Chapter 1

I have secretly loved Lucas for ten years. He marked me three years ago, but we still hadn't held the official Mating Ceremony.

He told me I deserved the best, so he spent three years personally designing a wedding dress for me.

Every she-wolf in the pack envied me, and I truly believed I had finally found my happily ever after.

That was until a week before the ceremony, when I watched Lucas with my own eyes as he draped that Luna gown over my sister, Seraphina—who had been missing for three years.

Seraphina leaned weakly against Lucas’s chest, her voice trembling with tears. "Lucas, I know I shouldn’t have come back right now... and I know you only agreed to give me Ella’s Mating Ceremony because I have silver poisoning and only a month left to live. But I still have to ask..."

She looked up at the powerful Alpha with tear-filled eyes, looking utterly pitiful. "For the past three years, while you were designing this dress... the person in your mind was actually me, wasn't it?"

Lucas remained silent for a long time. Long enough for my fingernails to pierce my palms.

"Yes." His voice was low and husky.

Seraphina instantly broke into a smile through her tears and threw herself into his arms.

Standing in the shadows, I felt like my heart was being carved out with a knife.

Suddenly, two identical, handsome men strode over. It was my twin Beta brothers, Ron and Reid.

They had heard the news of Seraphina’s return to the pack and rushed back from the border.

"Seraphina! Where have you been all these years!" Ron’s face held a look of affectionate reproach, his hands cradling an exquisite crystal box.

I was trembling all over.

Just a few days ago, these were the same brothers who had patted my head with smiles, promising to walk me down the aisle at the ceremony...

"Ron! Reid!" Seraphina cried out, turning to throw herself into their arms. "I thought... I thought after I lured those rogues away back then, I’d never see you again... I was so scared..."

The twins exchanged a look filled with pain and regret.

Reid’s eyes were red-rimmed as he tenderly wiped away her tears. "Silly girl, it was our fault for not protecting you. We won't let you suffer ever again."

Ron opened the crystal box in his hand like he was offering a treasure. "Look. This is the ‘Moonflower’ prepared for your Mating Ceremony. It’s what you’ve always wanted."

Seraphina covered her mouth in surprise, laughing through her tears again, and linked arms with both brothers.

Lucas stepped forward too, taking off his jacket to drape it over her shoulders. The four of them walked out in a cluster, a picture of warmth that stung my eyes.

Throughout the entire scene, not a single person noticed me.

It wasn't until their figures disappeared at the end of the hallway that I stumbled, grabbing the doorframe for support. A rough wooden splinter pierced my palm, but the pain was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

Growing up, Seraphina was always the one surrounded by stars.

We were identical twins, yet everyone’s eyes only ever lingered on her.

I had loved Lucas for ten years, but I knew he had always liked Seraphina.

That is, until three years ago when the pack faced a surprise attack by rogues and was on the brink of destruction.

Seraphina ran away the night before our defenses collapsed, leaving everyone behind.

I was the one who stepped up when everyone else was in despair. I fought with everything I had, covered in blood, and held the line until Lucas and my brothers made it back.

That battle left me on the verge of death; I lay in the infirmary for three full months.

Lucas and my brothers knelt by my bed, weeping.

Lucas held my hand, trembling as he asked if I would be his Luna.

He said I saved the whole pack, that I was the bravest she-wolf.

My brothers also swore that Seraphina, that coward, had been removed from the family tree. From then on, they said, I was their only sister.

That night, Lucas marked me before the Moon Goddess.

Although we didn't hold the ceremony immediately, he put the ring symbolizing the Luna’s authority on my finger.

"Ella, I will give you the best wedding in the world. I’m going to design your dress myself."

I believed him. I thought I was finally being seen. I thought that as long as I was brave enough, I could be loved.

For these past three years, Lucas doted on me.

He built a garden on the pack's most fertile land because I loved the scent of flowers; whenever I woke up from a nightmare, this arrogant Alpha would gently hold me and lull me back to sleep.

My brothers changed too.

Ron personally prepared nutritious meals for me every day. Reid would run through the entire forest to find my favorite wild fruits just because of a casual complaint I made.

They always smiled and said, "Our Ella is the best sister in the world."

Until two days ago, when Seraphina returned.

She was covered in scars, claiming she didn't run away but left to lure away a more vicious pack of rogues.

She said she was poisoned with incurable silver toxicity during the fight and didn't want to be a burden, so she chose to wander alone.

But now, with only a month left to live, she couldn't bear to part with her family and Lucas, so she came back.

Lucas and my brothers believed her without hesitation.

Guilt and pity instantly drowned them.

To make up for the three years they "owed" her, and to fulfill Seraphina’s "dying wish," they decided—to give my Mating Ceremony to her.

I looked around the empty studio and suddenly laughed out loud.

As I laughed, I bent over, large tears crashing onto the floor.

It turned out that for these three years, I was just a stand-in.

Now that the real owner was back, I, the substitute, should naturally know my place and exit the stage!

I turned around and went to the witch's hut.

"I want to buy that vial of Vanishing Potion," I said firmly.

The witch looked surprised. "Are you sure? Once you drink this, your wolf's scent will be altered, and the mate bond will be forcibly severed."

"I'm sure," I answered without a shred of hesitation.

"It will take effect in one week." She handed me the potion.

One week later...

Wasn't that the exact day of the Mating Ceremony?

I took the potion and drank the bitter liquid down in one gulp.

After drinking it, I took out my phone and sent a text to a number I hadn't contacted in three years: I agree to join the Northern Pack. Help me stage a fake death in one week.

A reply came quickly: Good. You finally came to your senses.